The Loss of Tory Power in 1830

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There were many causes that attributed to the loss of Tory power in 1830. Firstly was the problem with religion. Essentially, this was a battle between Canningites and Ultra Toires. The Canningites were a group dedicated to the views of Canning, who was the foreign sectary in Liverpool’s government and after Liverpool resigned, prime minister. The Canningites were generally more liberal Tories who were open to new ideas and tried many times to push forward Catholic emancipation. The Ultra-Tories were a group of more Tories with more extreme views than the average Tory. The Ultra-Tories were opposed to almost all reforms and were thus against Catholic emancipation.

The Canningites had the idea that there would be some sort of revolution in Ireland if the Catholic Emancipation act was not passed. Being more liberal, they did not see any harm that could come from having Catholics in Parliament. Ultra-Tories however saw things very differently. Seeing as the Church and the State are seen as the same thing and the head of both was the king, the Ultra-Tories saw this as an attack on the king. Because of this, they feared it would undermine the monarchy and thus the whole country.

Another possibly cause for the Tories loss of power in 1830 was the issue of parliamentary reform and the social and economic problems around it. Around the period of 1830 the economy varied a lot. In 1926 there was an economic crisis. 85% of businesses in Manchester closed. Around the country there were high bread prices for two reasons, firstly, the failing economy and secondly, there was a bad harvest from 1829 to 1830.

There was also a lingering threat of radicalism around this time. William Cobbett was a renowned reformer, and encouraged a call for...

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Wellington was an Ultra-Tory; this caused a lot of friction in the party. Although Wellington and Peel were very strong leaders, Huskisson and the liberal Tories refused to serve under Wellington as they opposed his views. But, soon after this Huskisson died, leaving the Liberal Tories with no strong leader.

In conclusion I believe it was the division in personality and a failure of leadership that caused the Tories to lose power in 1830. This is because there was a constant change in leadership of the party in the build up to this, meaning there was never a time of neutral feelings throughout the party, there were always disagreements. Although some could say that it was the issue of Catholic Emancipation that the Tories mainly divided on. But, if it they had had a strong leader, and a party that got on with each other, they would have overcome this.

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